Cakes by Caryl

Animal Picnic for Nadya's First Birthday

2011-05-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

These are really old but I haven't had the time to put these photos up. My baby niece turned 1 in January. My sister-in-law made the cake and I make the toppers. So, I decided to make miniature replicas of her 3 favourite stuffed animals/doll having a picnic - Sophie the giraffe, Harriet the Hippo, and Charlie the doll. Both Harriet and Charlie were actually knitted by my mom! All the figurines were made out of fondant and other details painted on.

The finished product

The replicas and the originals

The making of Harriet and Charlie

I have to say that I wasn't too happy with Charlie. She got a little chubby. It was hard to get her to stay sitting up without compromising her girth. I used a garlic press to make her hair - easy and already available in most households!

Harriet the Hippo

Sophie the giraffe

Sophie was made out of a single piece of fondant. I have to say she's my favourite. Spots, hooves, and other details were painted on using AmeriColor Gourmet Writer Food Decorating Pens(one of my favourite and most used purchases).

Available at Iced Affair in Camperdown (http://www.icedaffair.com.au/)

Close up

Nadya and I

Cheerios outfit for Nikki's 25th

2011-05-28T07:59:00.000-07:00

Quick post about a cake I made for my friend Nikki's 25th birthday today. She loves Glee so I made a replica of the Cheerios' cheerleading top. It was a bit of a rush job so the joints aren't as neat as I would like them to be and normally, I would have carefully measured out things and been much more accurate but I was very limited by time (and bad planning).

The interesting thing about this cake is that it is a gluten free cake made out of maize flour. I learnt today that the cornflour that is sold in our supermarkets in Sydney is completely different from the cornflour you will see in American recipes. The cornflour that we have here is in fact made out of wheat (and thus, so very not gluten free) and is really corn starch. The cake turned out alright but methinks I'm going to keep experimenting with gluten free cake recipes until I find one I really like. In the meantime, I can't wait to make cornbread with my leftover maize flour!

If you're looking for maize flour, I got it from Dr Earth Go-Vita on King Street, Newtown. It has a great range of gluten free (and other health food) items (http://tinyurl.com/3dfqlhn).

The three wise pink apes for my dad's 60th birthday

2010-06-27T08:05:00.000-07:00

My dad turned 60 today and I wanted to make a cake that was really special and really represent my Dad. For some reason, my dad LOVES pink apes. He loves anything to do with them. Pink ape key chains, pink ape t-shirts etc. For my graduation he even gave me a pink ape soft today in a graduation gown which he had got specially made. I had previously made 2 pink ape cakes for my dad so I really had to up the ante this time to outdo myself. So, I was inspired by the three wise monkeys and personalised it.

Ta da!

(Click on the photos to view larger photos)

The finished cake

Now to break it down...

The apes were made with fondant and is all edible except for the toothpicks I used to stabilise the limbs and props. Funnily enough, the camera took up most of my time. I had to make 6 lenses before I was able to fit "NIKON" on the lens cap (see above).

Now, let me explain ...

1. The ape that hears no evil
My dad is pretty hard of hearing so often his response when you speak to him is "WHAT?"

2. The monkey that speaks no evil
My dad collects degrees and one of his degrees is a Masters of Linguistincs which isn't in this photo but is in the final product

3. The monkey that sees no evil
My dad is an avid photographer

I was pretty proud of the finished product... I'm becoming more and more comfortable creating with fondant. But the most important thing to me was that my dad absolutely loved it. Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Nadya

2010-05-27T05:43:00.000-07:00

2010 has been quite a busy year, and we're not quite halfway through it yet.

1. New job.
Working as a medical intern doesn't really leave that much time to make and especially decorate any cakes, which has undoubtedly left me with a big hole. Hopefully, I'll be able to make up for lost time when I go on annual leave in just a few weeks!

2. New niece.
My brother and his wife had a beautiful baby girl, Nadya in January. She was the inspiration for my most recent fondant adventure - a miniature Nadya. I'm still very much fiddling around with fondant and learning as I go. I've stayed away from trying to make human figurines after my first attempt back in 2008 was a dismal disaster. I tried to look for old photos to put up just so you can see how bad they were but I couldn't find any. Oh well, saves me the embarrassment! :)

So this is Nadya at her 1 month full moon celebration ...

And this is how miniature Nadya came to be...

And voila...!

I was pretty surprised with the outcome. Granted, she's actually only 4 months old now and I may or may not have taken some creative license with her age to make it easier on myself... I don't think she looks too bad. ;)

P.S. I was in the San Fransisco/San Jose area recently and found heaven in Barbara of Pauline's Cake Decorating Supplies. There is so much more choice in the states and things are so much cheaper too! Barbara is a hoot and won't let you get away without imparting some of her wisdom. It is almost worth flying all the way back to San Fran again even if it means getting stuck at the cash register for 20 minutes when all I want to do is to pay for my shopping!

Barbara of Pauline's Cake Decorating Supplies

1093 Malone Road,

San Jose CA 95125

(408)978-9740

Final Year Farewell Cupcakes

2010-01-12T03:06:00.001-08:00

This is another long overdue post.

I finally graduated from med school last year and as a final hoorah, we had a hospital farewell party for the final year students down at the local pub with loads of entertainment - trivia, games, dances and singing. It was a fun night to be had and a good chance to mingle with the doctors. To say thank you to my fellow students for the fun times and the invaluable admin girls at the Clinical Teaching Unit, I painstakingly worked on 34 personalised face cupcakes with one of the most wonderful-est friends, Monica who stayed up with me and helped me till 4.30am.

Meet the St George Class of 2009

Now, for the how tos...

Step 1: Bake lots of cupcakes with lots of backups

Step 2: Slice off the top of the cupcakes so that it's flat and apply a thin layer of buttercream just so there's something for the fondant to adhere to

Step 3: Roll out fondant thinly and cut into a circle and place on top of the cupcake (I used a plastic IKEA cup for this) remembering to use either a lot of cornflour or COPHA so that the fondant doesn't stick to the table/cup etc. Then using a food colouring pen, or a brush draw on facial features/make little noses out of fondant

Step 4: Add fondant hair

Oh, and I used Wilton Ready-to-use Rolled Fondant in Natural Colors, which made my life a whole lot easier.

Baby shower cupcakes for Aryan

2010-01-12T02:07:00.000-08:00

I threw my sister-in law a baby shower back in early December and now she is literally about to pop. She is 39+4 weeks today and I can't wait to meet my new niece. Below are some close up shots of the cupcakes I made for the picnic we had at Coogee Beach with friends and family.

Just my usual vanilla cupcakes with pink buttercream. Toppers are made out of modeling paste and shaped using a mould i bought at Iced Affair in Camperdown. Smoosh modeling paste into the mould, then put it in the freezer for a few minutes and then pop it out. Nice and easy! Then paint with food colouring. I bought these food colouring pens which were a bit expensive but totally worth the investment. And then I painted over it with some shimmer dust just to make it look a bit more polished.

Naughty cupcakes for a friend's hen's party

2009-11-15T01:04:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine is getting married in less than a month, so we had a perfectly sophisticated and polite (and fun!) picnic at Centennial Park followed by dinner to celebrate. To rock things up a little bit, I made some naughty cupcakes. Leave it to me to corrupt her poor and innocent soul ;) I had lots of ideas in my head but I decided to keep it a little more subtle so as to not mortify her too much.

Do not scroll down if you are easily offended.

The cupcake is a standard vanilla cupcake with American buttercream icing. The "goods" are made out of fondant. Instructions? Mould to desired size and shape. Lol.

My army of penises

It was hard to get a closeup shot because it was too small.

In retrospect, I would have picked a different colour for the icing. I was not expecting to be asked if I meant for the genitalia to be "lying on a bed of......." Ummm...how about you use your imagination for that one. :P

Hummingbird cake for Will's 24th birthday

2009-06-10T04:42:00.000-07:00

I made a hummingbird cake, which is a Southern cake with pineapples, bananas, cinnamon using Will's mom's recipe and a cream cheese icing. I didn't think that that much icing sugar could get mixed into one single package of cream cheese, but it did and surprisingly it didn't taste too sweet at all.

I didn't do anything too fancy this time - just a few swirly borders sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and the sides covered with chopped pecan nuts. I wrote a little birthday message in the centre to finish it off, but the photos didn't turn out too great.

Eeyore cake for Nikki's 23rd

2009-05-23T22:51:00.000-07:00

Eeyore cake topper on a chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache icing

Eeyore cake topper

2009-05-23T19:53:00.001-07:00

The making of Eeyore...

"Oh, dear..." ~Eeyore

"It's not much of a tail...but I'm sorta attached to it" ~ Eeyore

"After all, what are birthdays? Here today and gone tomorrow" ~ Eeyore

"Thanks for noticing me" ~ Eeyore

Little birdies for Diana's 23rd

2009-05-17T00:24:00.001-07:00

To make the birds, you first have to crumble your cake, mix it with icing and roll it into an egg-like shape. To finish, cover with fondant and add details.

My first attempt. He's a bit lumpy and retarded looking, but I got better eventually!

Painting eyes and letting feet dry

The yellow one kinda looks like he's trying to runaway, doesn't he?

Shots from every angle. I can't seem to get enough of these little critters!

Business Card

2009-05-10T00:28:00.001-07:00

Will put together a business card in time for me to go with my first cake sold. Thank you!! <3

Danish flag cake + seal cake topper

2009-04-30T22:15:00.001-07:00

My first made to order cake. I was asked to design a cake that included a Danish flag and a very cute seal + a sign saying "Don't Kill Me".

Step 1: Making the cake toppers

The Danish Flag

The naked seal on an iceberg

The little seal all dressed.
He's all edible except for his whiskers which are made out of wire used to make sugarpaste flower sprays.

With his 'Don't Kill Me' sign - Does he look mopey enough?

Step 2: Putting it all together

I made a yellow butter cake and froze it to facilitate carving.
Cut the cake to size and cover in buttercream
Place flag cake topper carefully

Pipe the borders using a star tip

Place the seal topper on top

Save the seals!

Arsenal T-Shirt Cake Topper

2009-04-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

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A cake topper made out of fondant for Izzy's boyrfriend's birthday. I didn't make the cake for it to go on, though. Everything is made out of fondant except the word 'Majesty' which was painted on with food colouring.

The making of the tulip bouquet and cupcakes

2009-04-25T02:43:00.000-07:00

First, you roll out the fondant/sugarpaste thinly and use the cutters and then press them between a veiner. I had a photo of all the cutters and veiners and other tools I used but for some reason it won't convert into a jpeg.

You have to let it dry in the position and shape you want to set in so I let my petals and leaves mould in spoons and a bowl. You might have noticed that you don't see any of these petals in the final bouquet. That's because as I said, they weren't dry enough and they all broke on me.

Cover the cake in fondant, wrap around a decorative red ribbon to bring out the colours of the flowers.

Apply finishing touches 5 minutes before you have to rush out the door because you're already half an hour late.

And there you have it!

Close up shots of the momentos

Love my $15 Bake and Take cupcake carrier from Coles!

Cakes by Caryl now taking orders

2009-04-22T06:24:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

I got 2 enquiries today about whether or not I do made-to-order cakes so I've decided now that I do! I may not always be able to do them. It really depends on how much work I have to do and how close I am to finals, but if you are interested or if you know someone who may be interested, e-mail me at cakesbycaryl@gmail.com .

Caryl
xoxo

Lots of stuff for Monica's 23rd Birthday

2009-04-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

I made a whole bunch of stuff for Monica's birthday:-
1. Vanilla cupcakes with red buttercream icing
2. Vanilla cakes with buttercream icing with momento decorations
3, Madeira cake (made by Diana) covered in white fondant and decorated with a sugarpaste tulip spray

Photos courtesy of Emily Yu

I'm not sure if you can see the momentos clearly but they are
1. Karate outfit with black belt because Monica does Karate
2. Golden Venetian mask because Monica and I went to Venice together
3. Red ball of wool with knitting needles because we used to be in a knitting circle together
4. White ball of wool with knitting needles
5. Pink ballet slippers because our 'awesome foursome' group of friends danced together in Revue
6. Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat hat from our days doing Medrevue '04 'The Cat with the Fat'
7. Surf board with "Surfer's" written on it because the trip we made to Surfer's Paradise in 2004

Not what I wanted to do initially but it turned out ok in the end for my first spray, I think. I had a lot of drama putting it together because I didn't really allow enough time for the petals to dry, so luckily I managed to salvage enough petals for 4 tulips.

Ta Da!

I took some photos along the way to show the process. I shall put those up soon. Happy Birthday, Monica!

Easter hazelnut chocolate cupcakes

2009-04-05T03:15:00.000-07:00

I used chocolate buttercream with a basket weave tip and for the "grass" I melted white chocolate, coloured it green, let it harden and shaved it.

I got tired and lazy after a while so I just dumped icing on the rest of the remaining cupcakes.

Happy Easter everybody!

Earth cookie for Earth hour!

2009-04-02T06:48:00.000-07:00

Vanilla cupcakes with yellow buttercream icing for Ian and Sarah's wedding

2009-04-02T06:45:00.000-07:00

Pinku the pink ape cake

2009-04-02T06:44:00.000-07:00

Hazelnut gateau with dark chocolate ganache, whipped cream and strawberries

2009-04-02T06:43:00.000-07:00

1957 Chevrolet Corvette Gasser Convertible two-tone for Mr. Higgins' 54th birthday

2009-04-02T06:32:00.000-07:00

The finished product

Now for the step by step guide:

Freeze the cake and carve it to desired shape

2. Cover in fondant sparing the inside of the car

(not easy to do if this is one of the first few times you've worked with fondant as it was
for me!)

3. Roll accessories ie. seats, steering wheels etc out of fondant and place

4. Cut windshield out of plastic folder and hold in place with fondant around the edges

5. Add fine detail

And VOILA! you're done!

Golf Course Cake for Nick's 30th birthday

2009-04-02T06:27:00.000-07:00

Quick & easy!
Fairway: Buttercream
Rough: Buttercream + edible crystals
Bunkers: Buttercream + edible crystals
Trees: mini marshmallows on toothpicks dipped in buttercream and covered in crystals
Golf ball: Cachous ball

Halloween spiders and webs

2009-04-02T06:26:00.000-07:00

Plain and chocolate sugar cookies

My 21st Cake

2009-04-02T06:20:00.000-07:00

Bottom layer: White chocolate mud
Middle layer: White chocolate cheesecake
Top Layer: Plain butter cake
Icing: Buttercream
Ribbon and swirls: Modeling paste
Roses: storebought (I was lazy!)

Lessons I learnt from making this cake:

Set aside enough time. It is no fun rushing to finish a cake when you have to start getting ready for your own party. Or really... get someone else to make you a cake.
Even in the effort of saving some time, never use the junky writing gels you can buy from the supermarket. it is so much easier to control piping from a piping bag and you're less likely to have air pockets and ugly errors like I did!
Be very careful when mixing colours or you get unintentional colours like the green in the bottom layer. Or (going back to number 1) make sure you have enough time to make another batch in case you screw up.

Ninja Turtle Cake for Nicky's 5th Birthday

2009-04-02T06:18:00.000-07:00

Copied from a picture and drawn free hand with Buttercream, hence why Leonardo looks a bit Cushingoid

Box of Chocolates cake for Meg's 22nd

2009-04-02T06:16:00.000-07:00

Tiara and pillow cake for Diana's 21st

2009-04-02T06:09:00.001-07:00

I used marshmallow fondant to cover the cake and royal icing for the tiara.

How to make a tiara out of royal icing (needs a few days to finish!)

Print out sketch and sticky tape it to a cylindrical object. I used a hot chocolate tin.
Tape baking paper over the printout.
Prepare your royal icing and with a fine tip, pipe over the sketch and ensuring that all the adjacent bits are touching each other.
Let dry for a couple of hours and then repeat over the royal icing.
Repeat this a few times. More layer strengthens the integrity of the icing, but too many will make it look messy and bulky. I suggest about 3 layers should be fine.
Allow to dry completely over a day. The outside may look dry but the inside may still be wet.
Be very careful as you lift the tiara off the tin and peel the baking paper off. Or when you're placing it on your cake or transporting it. Basically, just be extra careful because it is extremely fragile!

n/b If your tiara breaks, you will able to join the broken edges together by applying some royal icing in between and allowing to set and dry. If there are too many pieces though, it might be easier to just start from scratch!

Fairytopia Cake for Abbey's 6th birthday

2009-04-02T06:04:00.000-07:00